Experts from Central and Eastern Europe debated in Karpacz about the possibilities of cooperation for innovation in health
During the XXXI Economic Forum in Karpacz, which took place on September 6-8, an international expert panel entitled "Health Innovation Hub Network CEE - union for strong health care system in Central and Eastern Europe" was organized. The originator and organizer of the panel was the Medical Research Agency, which is leading the initiative to create a Central European cooperation network (hub). The panel was followed by the ceremonial signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening comprehensive regional cooperation.
The panel was attended by senior representatives of the health sector and representatives of global pharmaceutical companies from Latvia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary: Radoslaw Sierpinski, President, Medical Research Agency, Monique Clua Braun, CEO, Novartis, Miklós Szócska, Ministerial Commissioner, Semmelweis University in Budapest, Aris Kasparans, Director, National Health Service of Latvia, Kuuno Vaher, Managing Director for Central Europe, AstraZeneca, and Mr. Lukáš Palaj, Director, Department of Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.
Shaping policies and benchmarks is key if we want to influence the health care system in Poland. Creating an international hub can help solve common problems. Collaboration between partners could be a source of knowledge on paradigms for implementing different technologies or know how, which could be personalized on Polish soil. - said Medical Research Agency President Radoslaw Sierpinski, MD.
The panelists stressed that through regional cooperation, it would be possible to benefit from the experience of other countries, share information and scale it up for their own country.
As emphasized by Lukáš Palaj, Director, Department of Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic - each country has its own specifics and priorities, so one of the first steps in regional cooperation, in addition to signing a memorandum, is to create a list of priorities for each country and compare elements that may be common to our countries. This will help us address needs appropriately and, on the one hand, benefit from the knowledge and experience of our neighbors in processes that are at a more advanced stage in another country, and on the other hand, jointly respond to similar needs.
Miklós Szócska, Ministerial Commissioner, Semmelweis University in Budapest, pointed out - if we look at the direction of the development of the health care system and if private and state participants join the process, then we will see that this will be a very good starting point for trans-regional cooperation. We can't talk about innovation without joint action between business and the public sector.
We should take the example of other countries, but also focus on our own components. All procedures for cooperation should be as simple and practical as possible. The juxtaposition of mutual priorities is very important, and first of all, this is what we should focus on in order to set in motion the whole mechanism for making changes in the health care system. - added Kuuno Vaher, Managing Director for Central Europe, AstraZeneca
The panel was a continuation of the debate initiated in Warsaw on July 27 on public-private cooperation for innovation in healthcare in Central and Eastern Europe, which was attended by eight countries in the region. The aim of the talks is to develop the concept of establishing a regional cooperation platform to facilitate the creation of innovative solutions for improving and increasing the efficiency of our region's healthcare systems with the participation of public-private partnerships.
The panel was followed by the ceremonial signing of a Polish-Latvian Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening comprehensive regional cooperation between the Parties, in particular by initiating efforts to establish a Health Innovation Hub Network. The Memorandum of Understanding was concluded between the Medical Research Agency, represented by the Agency's President, Dr. Radoslaw Sierpinski, and the National Health Service of the Republic of Latvia, represented by Director Āris Kasparāns.
Latvia is the first country with which the Medical Research Agency has signed such an agreement. Work is currently underway on further MoUs, which the Agency will successively sign with other countries in the Central and Eastern European region in the coming months.
